Carol Bateson Craft

Carol Bateson Craft, 67…. daughter, sister, wife, mother, grandmother and friend… died Friday morning, April 6, 2012 at her home in Wylie, Texas following a courageous fight against Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Mom was born on August 7, 1944 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Her father worked in commercial construction, so she and her family followed him… from project to project through Kentucky, Maryland, Alabama, Texas and even to Bermuda and Puerto Rico. Her family, finally, settled around the Miami, Florida area where Mom spent a greater part of her childhood. Mom developed a love for horses and was an accomplished equestrian. She attended Catholic schools exclusively, graduating from high school in 1962. Mom briefly attended college (at the University of Miami) but was seen on campus by a recruiter from Delta Air Lines, and soon left school to become a flight attendant.

In the Spring of 1965, Mom met the love of her life… our father… on a Delta Air Lines flight. Just moments after meeting him, Mom told a coworker (who asked who Dad was) “… that’s the man I’m going to marry.” Dad was equally smitten and they were married on October 2, 1965, in Waterloo, Iowa.

Mom and Dad lived together briefly in Miami, Florida before our father’s jobs took him to New York, Illinois, New Jersey, California and, eventually, Texas. And it was Texas Mom considered “home” … it was Texas that she loved.

When Mom married Dad, she had to leave her job as a Flight Attendant Supervisor with Delta Air Lines. Along the way, Mom also worked as a Customer Service Supervisor for TWA, as an Executive Assistant to a Superintendent of a school district, as a Food & Beverage Manager for the Westin Galleria (here in Dallas) and even as an Operations Manager for the Dallas Cowboys. She loved travel, though … her own travels taking her all over the world … and so she returned to Delta Air Lines, working as an International Rates Coordinator. That job opened a door at Maritz Travel, where Mom worked helping to manage the PepsiCo account … specifically staging private jets and arranging travel for their Executive staff. After several years in this position, Mom left to deserve a well-deserved retirement.

While she enjoyed her career in Travel, Tourism and Hospitality, Mom’s greatest joy in life was her family … being a devoted and faithful wife, a phenomenal mother to her 4 children and a warm and loving “Me-Ma” to her 5 grandchildren.

Mom was a truly beautiful woman … courageous, strong and steadfast. She inspired her children, her grandchildren, her family and many, many friends. Her smile and laughter were infectious and unforgettable … just as she was. We are warmed and we smile – as we know she would have – when we hear people recount how “sweet” she was, how “beautiful” she was, how “big her heart was …”

Mom is survived by her only son, Sean Patrick Craft; her 3 daughters, Ashley Craft Schmitt, Stephanie Craft Miller and Shannon Elizabeth Craft; 2 sons in-law, Karl Schmitt and Brandon Miller; her grandchildren, Nicole Schmitt, Caitlin Schmitt, Dakota Miller, Thomas Schmitt and Braeden Miller; her sister, Eileen Weber; 3 sisters in-law, several nieces and nephews, their families and her friends.

Surrounded by her children, she slipped away to join our father, Thomas Craft; her father, John Patrick Bateson; her mother, Helene Bateson; her mother in-law, Betty Fullar; her brothers, John “Jackie” Bateson, Robert Bateson and Edward Bateson; and many other family members and friends who preceded her in death.

She was adored and she will be missed …….